Jacquet Backgammon Variant

Jacquet is a Backgammon variant that used to be well-liked in Europe. In Jacquet, every participant begins with 15 checkers on the point that is farthest to his right. The players both make the same counterclockwise course across the board.

In order to begin play, every player rolls a single die and the one with the higher roll gets to go first, then he rerolls to start his initial turn.

Players need to move their checkers in accordance with the points that correspond to the numbers that come up when they roll the dice. These are the rules of checker movement in Jacquet Backgammon:

1. A checker can only be placed on a point that isn't held by any of the opponent's checkers.
2. There are 2 dice in Jacquet and the numbers on each of them signify 2 independent moves.
3. Doubles are used 2 times.
4. In the case that you can not use any part of your roll, you lose whatever you did not use.

A checker called the courier has to be the first one played in this Backgammon game, meaning that it has to get to the finishing table before any other checker can be used.

A blot is a single checker that occupies a point. If your opponent's checker winds up on your blot, your blot gets hit and is put on the bar. In this Backgammon variant, whenever you have at least 1 checker on the bar, your number 1 priority should be to get those checkers in your opponent's home board. The way to do this includes moving a checker to an available point that matches 1 of the numbers you've rolled. In the case that you succeed in bringing some, but not every one of your checkers, then you have to bring in as many as you possibly can and forsake the rest of your turn.

The following are the restrictions placed on checker movement in Jacquet:

• 2 points are the most that can be closed in your starting table.
• The mid point is the point that is the farthest to the left. No more than 2 checkers can be placed on it in Jacquet.

When every one of your checkers is in your finishing table, you can start to bear off. In order to bear off in this Backgammon variant, you need to roll a number that is either the same or bigger than the point of your back-most checker. In the case that the number that you rolled does not enable you to bear off your back-most checker, you should utilize it in order to shift that checker up.

Keep in mind that you can not squander pips when you bear off, meaning that you should bear off whenever you can instead of moving the checker up with a lower number. In the case that your checker gets hit while bearing off, it has to be brought back into the starting table and taken all the way across the board once more into the finishing table prior to continuing the bear off.

Regarding the point system in Jacquet, the first one that bears off every one of his checkers is the winner and earns 1 point. 2 points, marcia, are acquired in the case that you bear off every one of your checkers before the other player bears off any of his. 3 points, marcia per punto, are gained in the case that you get 2 points without building a prime.

David Carnegy - Managing Editor